Cigar.



N0. 7||,250. Patented Oct. l4, I902.

E. A. KLINE.

CIGAR.

(Application filed Nov. 20, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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WITNES ES: INVENTOR 7 AM Lg Q w ATTORNEYS m: Nanms PEYERS co, moYoLIma.WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDYVARD A. KLINE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CIGAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,250, dated October14, 1902.

Application filed November 26, 1901. Serial No. 83,728. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. KLINE, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan,city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Cigars, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the cigar; Fig. 2, a detail ofthe brand-ribbon detached; Fig. 3, a detail of a section of thebrand-ribbon; Fig. 4, a detail showing the brand-ribbon inserted throughthe cigar near the tuck end; and Fig. 5, a transverse sectional view ofthe end of the cigar, showing the brand-ribbon inserted therein.

It is a common practice among unscrupulous cigar-dealers to place in acigar-box cigars which were not originally packed therein and to offerthem to the public as cigars of the brand which is marked on the box. Inthis way inferior cigars are sold as being of well-known and popularbrands. The public have no way of determining whether or not the cigarsthus offered were or were not originallypacked in the box by themanufacturer whose brand is thereon.

One of the objects of this invention is to prevent this fraud on thepublic by branding each cigar in a very noticeable and peculiar manner.

In carrying out this invention a very thin flat ribbon strip bearing thebrand is inserted in a small aperture in the cigar in such a positionthat when the ribbon is removed by the smoker the mutilation of thecigar will be at such a point that it will not interfere with thesmoking of the cigar. To this end the thin fiat brand-ribbon is passedthrough a transverse aperture which is formed in the cigar near one endthereof. lf said aperture is formed in the cigar near the tuck end, itwill be destroyed in the first lighting of the cigar, and if it be nearthe month end thereof it will come within the mouth of the smoker orwill be destroyed when the end of the cigar is clipped off and will thusnot interfere in the least with the smoking of the cigar.

Referring to the various parts by numerals, 1 designates the cigar, and2 the thin flatbrandribbon which is to be passed through the cigar neareither end thereof. In Fig. 1 of the drawings this brand ribbon is shownas passed through the cigar near the month end thereof; but, as isevident, it may be passed through the tuck end thereof, if desired, asshown in Fig. 4. This ribbon is preferably of fine quality and is verythin and narrow in order that the aperture in the cigar through whichsaid ribbon is to be passed may be Very small. It is of course necessarythat this ribbon be broad enough to permit of the printing or otherwisemarking thereon of the brand-mark and also that it be broader than theaperture through which it is inserted in order that it will be foldedlongitudinally where it passes through the aperture. This ribbon willextend atits ends beyond the sides of the cigar, and its projectingportions will flare or unfold toward their outer ends, and therebyprevent the ready withdrawal of the ribbon in either direction and topermit the brand-mark to be distinguished, or at. least that part of itwhich may be printed or marked on the unfolded part of the ribbon. Whenthe ribbon is inserted through the aperture in the cigar, care is takento fold it so as to bring the brand-mark thereon between the fold. Inthis way the brand-mark will be protected from contact with the cigarand the paint or other marking medium employed will not be absorbed bythe tobacco. Another object of thus folding the brand-ribbon is that thebrand-marks will be protected during the operation of inserting thebrand-ribbon through the cigars. The method of securing thesebrandribbons within the ends of the cigar is as follows: The brands areprinted or otherwise marked on or produced in a long strip of narrow andvery thin ribbon 3, the marks being a suitable distance from each other,so that the ribbon may be out between the brand-marks, and this ribbonis threaded througha needle of suitable size. By means of the needle thecigars are threaded on the ribbon-strip; One operator threads the cigarson the strip and another passes them along the strip to the extreme endthereof and places them thereon in such a position that each cigar is inthe center or middle of a brand-mark. When a cigar has been placed inthis position over the last brand-mark on the strip, the strip is cutofi, so that the detached piece is secured midway its ends within thecigar. In this Way the brands may be very readily and permanentlysecured to the cigar, and should the mark be removed before the sale ofthe cigar the purchaser will be advised by noting the perforation in theend of the cigar.

" By means of the present invention it will be impossible for anunscrupulous dealer to place cigars in a box which originally containedcigars branded by my method, without particularly branding each cigar inthe peculiar method employed by me.

From the foregoing the advantages of my peculiar method of brandingcigars will be apparent.

I am aware that I am not the first to insert a branding-cord through acigar near the end thereof, as such a branding means is shown in theBritish patent issued to Ripley, April 25, 1895, and numbered 8,201; butwhat I do claim is the form of brand-ribbon shown and described herein.7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

A cigar provided with a transverse aperture at one of its ends, incombination with a thin, flat, foldable brand-ribbon bearing a suitablebrand-mark and extending through said aperture, its ends projectingbeyond both sides of the cigar, saidribbon being folded longitudinallyon itself within the aperture the brand-mark being Within the foldwhereby the mark is protected from contact with the cigar, theprojecting portions of said ribbon being unfolded and flaring toward itsends to prevent the ready withdrawal of the ribbon through the aperturein either direction, the brand-mark on said ribbon being in such aposition as ,to be partly exposed on a projecting part of the ribbon.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 22d day of November, 1901.

EDWARD A. KLINE.

Witnesses:

ELIZABETH T. MORRIS, CHAS. J. BROWN.

